destruction and meeting with people affected. but six days before the election this is also being viewed through a political lens. governor chris christie, a romney surrogate, will show the president the destruction, while new york mayor michael bloomberg politely declined a visit. this morning the president got a substantial briefing on what's happening and the federal support that's being provided for the recovery. some are calling this a commander in chief moment. but at the very least, this hurricane has complicated a very close presidential race. take a look at the latest national polls of the president obama has just a one-point lead among likely voters. three new swing state polls show the president still in the lead, although with a margin that is shrinking in florida, virginia and ohio. and instead of campaigning, the president went to the red cross in washington, d.c., yesterday. >> this is a tough time for a lot of people. millions of folks all across the eastern seaboard. but america is tougher. and we're tougher because we pull together, we leave nobody

behind, we make sure that we respond as a nation and remind ourselves that whenever an american is in need, all of us stand together to make sure that we're providing the help that's necessary. >> mitt romney will resume a full campaign schedule today, stumping in florida. he held a disaster relief event yesterday in ohio. >> we've got people right now that are having some hard times because of this terrible hurricane and the storm that followed it, and your generosity will make a difference. so i want to thank you. >> i want to bring in usa today's washington bureau chief susan page. maureen dowd writes this this morning, quote, while romney campaigns in florida yesterday, christie and obama plan to tour storm damage in new jersey. a picture of bipartisanship, putting distressed people above

ki dirt-slinging politics and that's a grand bargain for both of them. susan, is this politically perhaps better than campaigning for the president? >> of course we're not saying that's the reason that this is happening with the president and governor christie, but i think it's probably good politics for both of them. it shows the president helping americans at a time in need. it shows the federal government doing something to help people. that's an argument that he's been trying to make with voters general low. and, you know, chris christie may well face a re-election fight next year for governor against newark mayor cory booker. it's probably helpful for governor christie as well. the only person it's not helpful for is maybe governor romney to have one of his chief surrogates out there touring today with the president. >> somebody we should remind people that this was the keynote speaker at the republican national convention who had some choice words for the president at that time. and reid, it's also getting a lot of attention and people are raising eyebrows because michael

bloomberg essentially said to the president we're really busy here, new jersey can speak for the region and there's no need for you to come to new york city. what do you think that's about? >> well, i think that's about recovering from the storm. it is real difficult for any white house -- or any city that's been hit boy a storm to deal with a motorcade and a presidential -- a bunch of secret service vans all over the place. that gets in the way of recovery efforts. if there's a place he can go in new jersey to see the damage without getting in the way of the recovery, that's where president obama needs to go right now. it reminds me of the stated reason that george w. bush didn't land in new orleans right after hurricane katrina. he didn't want to get in the way of some of the cleanup. of course that disaster response didn't go as well as it looks like president obama is handling the response happening this time. but there is the danger dealing with secret service logistics at a time when regular logistics,

just living every day life, becomes incredibly hard. >> i think it's worth pointing out certainly the obama campaign probably didn't imagine the extent. warmth of the words that chris christie has for the president, but mitt romney held his disaster relief event in ohio yesterday. the question that dogged him that he would not answer was about fema. take a listen. >> governor, what should fema's role be? governor, would you eliminate fema if you were president? >> well, it's either 11 or 14 times, depending on whose count you believe. the campaign released a statement saying that romney would not abolish fema but, quote, governor romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdiction. that's from his spokesman, ryan williams. is this a problem for him, susan? >> well, i think it becomes an

issue for him because of what he said in that primary debate that john king moderated where he was asked specifically about fema. he said anything that the federal government does that can be transferred to the states are better yet to the private sector. that's the right direction. so it leaves open the question of exactly what role he sees for fema. fema has been a controversial agency such as their delivery of services after katrina. however it's pretty popular when it comes in and helps and picks up the costs in the aftermath of disasters like this one. so i think it's a question that i would expect governor romney feel that he needs to say some words about. maybe today about what role he would see for the federal government for fema if he were president in natural disasters like this one. >> all this goes back to what mitt romney said in one of the early primary debates. i want to play that now. >> every time you have an occasion, you take something

from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. >> reid, is this an appropriate time to have a conversation about the role of the federal government? >> absolutely. i think susan brought up something very important in her first answer. she talked about sort of the awkwardness of governor romney at the moment. you know, there is no role for a challenger. what does a challenger do in a major disaster other than get in the way or say something stupid? the challenger has to -- it's just a tight rope that romney has to walk and i think susan is exactly right. he should come out and say something about fema because, look, this is a storm that hit virginia and north carolina and up to new york and connecticut. it is a national storm. i would imagine it would be appropriate for him to discuss how he would deal with something like that when he's in office.

when he is president a hurricane will hit the u.s. that happens. every year something bad happens. what would see do? now is the time to discuss that and that could change the topic and get away from some of the carrying water bottles back and forth and ignoring shouting questions from the press. >> obviously, again, if you want to look at it through a political lens, a place like florida, key battleground state, they know about the porimportan of fema. let me bring in shawn spicer. good morning, shawn, how are you? >> good morning, chris, i'm doing great. thank you. >> mitt romney during the debate and we just played that clip suggested sending disaster management back to the states or even the private sector. isn't that essentially suggesting eliminating or at the very least curtailing strongly fema? >> no, it's doing exactly what he just said, which is letting the states and localities lead

because they know what's best when it comes to their state. and you're seeing that right now, whether it's governor bob mcdonnell in virginia, governor christie or maybe bloomberg in new york who are saying, hey, we know exactly what we need in our state or in the case of new york city, we know what needs to get done, how to do it best. we know where everything is -- >> but isn't that essentially the way fema works? >> hold on, chris. what the governor said and what is -- his point is, is that the federal government should let states lead where they know best, in localities where they know best. getting the federal government in the middle of a disaster situation where immediate response is crucial, helping those in need and having firsthand local knowledge about where things are, where assets are prestationed and how to do it most effectively without the red tape and bureaucracy of the government is probably the most effective way to help people in need. >> well, but that's the way it works now because in consultation with the people who were going to be affected by this, the fema resources are put

into place ready to go. both mayor bloomberg and chris christie have been effusive in their praise of fema and how it works. they make the request, they know where the need is and fema comes in an acts. isn't that the way it works now? >> as susan pointed out earlier, it hasn't always worked that way. i think one of the things we had in this storm in particular was a very big heads up. we knew it was coming, we had plenty of time to prepare and preposition things to the extent that we could. that's not always the case, as everyone knows, whether it's a hurricane or earthquake or other type of natural disaster that comes out of nowhere. there's not always the ability to do that. i think fema does have a history of getting in the middle, a lot of red tape and a lot of bureaucracy. and there are ways -- >> is there an example in this administration that you could say where there's been problems? >> not that -- no. i think susan was the one who brought it up talking about how in the past. and there's been several

instances going back. but i think in this case we did have a large amount of lead time to get prepared for this. so i just -- i think the governor, whether it's fema or any function of government is trying to figure out how we can have the most effective and efficient government that provides the best services to people without allowing the government to get in the way in terms of red tape and bureaucracy. i think that's what we all want as taxpayers. >> let me show you the latest swing state polls. it shows the president up by five in ohio. can you win without ohio? and is concern about ohio the reason that you're advertising now in places like pennsylvania and minnesota, because you're worried about your path to 270? >> actually not. we're expanding the map. i mean this isn't a question of 270, it's a question of 300 or more. when you look at ohio, frankly, i disagree with that. i think we're doing extremely well in ohio. this is a poll -- a state where six, seven weeks ago the president was up ten, then six and five and we have this dead

even or better in our direction. our ground game in ohio is second to none. we feel very, very good about ohio. and what we've been able to do -- >> if your ground game is second to none -- i just want to stop you there. if your ground game is second to none, where is early voting going two to one to obama? >> because i think you're looking at a very top level number. how many votes did they put in and how much did they put in. when you look at percentage of registration, we're outperforming our registration in the state and they're underperforming. we're overperforming what we did in 2008. they're underperforming 2008. we have a lot more election day voters. they have spent their entire time cannibalizing the people that have a history of voting every election on election day. they have gone out and gotten them to vote early. we have spent our time getting people what we call low propensity voters. those who voted in one out of four elections, spending our time focusing on getting them to the polls. we have a majority of our voex

who will vote on election day. if you look at the data and say whether it's 2008 or percentage of registered -- or percentage of registration, we are outpmplg -- outperforming in these states. we are expanding the map to minnesota. they talked about the path to 270 for president obama. they considered states like new hampshire, minnesota, pennsylvania all safe obama states. now they are going up on advertising, sending their surrogates in because they are on defense on states that they considered very safe for obama, whereas governor romney is able to expand the map into states that were considered outside of that window and that includes states like wisconsin as well. that were considered safe seats -- double digit states the president carried in 2008. >> we have to let that be the last word but thanks for coming on the program. it's good to see you.

>> you bet. >> susan, let's talk about the polls. gallup daily tracking poll is suspended because of sandy. but we did see a national poll that showed obama up by one, more significantly in the battleground states but some of the numbers are tightening. the gap is closing but does obama still have enough of a lead. would he still be considered when you look at all these polls in aggregate the one to be favored? >> i think if you look at the whole set of swing states, polls that president obama seems to have the small advantage, even though mitt romney is ahead by a tick in most of the national polls, that raises the prospect of a split decision. president obama winning the electoral college and mitt romney winning the popular vote. i think the aftermath of hurricane sandy makes that more likely because it's likely to depress turnout in the safety democratic seats in the northeast. that doesn't affect the electoral college. places like new york and new jersey are still going to vote democratic but it could have an impact on this prospect that for

the second time since 2000, we would have a disparity between the finish and the popular vote and the electoral college. >> and the only question becomes do we end up with 36 days of counting, maybe not hanging chads but maybe something else. reid, do you agree with susan? >> yeah. i think the prospect for a split decision certainly exists. based on the swing state polls, it's clear president obama has a lead, a measurable lead in the electoral college map. >> and more so because of the hurricane do you think, reid? >> i'm not -- i'm not entirely willing to do that. i don't think it's likely that we're going to have a split decision. i think it's possible. i think the national polls are showing essentially a tied race, which of course can swing either way. but in the electoral college, it's clear that one guy is ahead, that president obama is ahead at the moment today. that, of course, can change in the next six days. but generally i think the popular vote and the electoral vote are going to go to the same person. if something happens over the

next weekend, if as shawn was saying the republicans ground game is truly as much better now from 2008, then, you know, it can swing the other way. but i think at the end of the day those two numbers, the lorl vote and the popular vote are going to line up. >> great to have you both on the program, thank you. sandy may have moved out of the northeast but obviously it's still wreaking havoc. these pictures are from early this morning over bricktown, new jersey, where a massive fire destroyed 14 homes two days ago and rekindled overnight. authorities believe natural gas lines are to blame. because of the damage in the area crews have not been able to get to the scene. natalie morales took a chopper ride over the destruction along the jersey shore and we will have an update from her in just a few minutes.

absolutely unbelievable

scenes of devastation across the northeast. communities are trying to start to recover after hurricane sandy but the death toll from that massive storm has climbed to at least 55. six million people remain without power across 18 states and many of the outages could last beyond the weekend. president obama heads to new jersey today. here are some examples of what he might see. this is seaside heights, the roller coaster on the boardwalk's popular amusement park now in the atlantic ocean. in hoboken, new jersey, the national guard is using high-wheeled vehicles to rescue thousands of residents trapped in their homes by floodwater n connecticut, four counties along the state's shoreline have been declared federal disaster areas. nearly half a million residents are still without power there. three people have died from the superstorm. connecticut congressman joe courtney joins me on the phone now. congressman, good morning to you. >> good morning, chris. >> i know some residents have been forced to go back to their homes in canoes to see what's

gone on in their houses. give us a statute report. >> well, i'm driving in the corner of southeastern connecticut. >> a gorgeous part of the state. >> it is. and it's completely without power. it's getting chilly up here. one thing we actually have caught a little bit of a break the last few days, it was pretty mild. but it's getting colder, and the power company this morning pretty much signalled that it's still going to be days before communities like this are fully restored. the damage, again, which hasn't been quite as in the spotlight maybe as other states, and i certainly understand that, but, you know, a community like stonington which does not have a break water from long island sound just got pounded with 75-mile-an-hour winds. and again, it's going to be -- it's not just sort of reconnecting some wires here, they have to reconstruct some of the infrastructure and it's going to take a while. >> what do you think the best

and worst case scenario might be at this point? >> this morning the power company was pretty much signalling we're looking well into the weekend. you know, again, i will say this. president obama's prompt declaration i think -- this is my fourth fema event since i've been in congress. this is the quickest turn-around. and i think it makes a big difference so people aren't worrying about whether or not -- the cost of all this will be covered or reimbursed. they can just really focus on the mission. >> having said that, congressman, and i think you know it's been absolute on both sides of the aisle, a lot of praise for fema. >> yeah. >> and we can point that out and they're working very hard. but you talked about it getting cold. i noticed that this morning, it was very cold even here in new york when i came to work. for people who don't have resources or people who may be elderly or people who may not have other family in the area, how concerned are you in the coming days, people stuck in their homes with no heat, with

no electricity, and is there a system in place to try to find them and help them? >> you know, we went through this a year ago with that freak snowstorm where power was out eight days in my community and it was freezing cold during that event. you know, the red cross and the local volunteer fire departments which predominate in this part of connecticut, small town eastern connecticut, did a fabulous job. we had no loss of life a year ago. but what you just said, there's no question the power not being restored for at least three or four days in many areas, they're going to have to focus on this issue, making sure people are not stranded in cold, dark houses. >> connecticut congressman joe courtney, i know you're out and about trying to do what you can to see that help gets to those who need it. we thank you for taking the time and good luck to everybody in that part of the country. >> thanks, chris. >> take a look at this, daring rooftop rescues by new york city

police officers. they rescued five adults and a child trapped in their home on staten island. helicopter 23, this chopper was named after the 23 new york city police officers who died on 9/11. oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

to politics now where a new york congressman's home burned down in the aftermath of sandy. bob turner was among more than 100 people who lost their homes in breezy point, queens. turner and his wife kid make it out safely. in a statement he said his thoughts and prayers are with his fellow new yorkers. he asked people to join with him to help the storm's victims. in arizona, the race for senate is very close and this new ad, it's tough to watch. it features a breast cancer survivor who is not supporting jeff flake. >> mr. flake, i've been fighting breast cancer for 14 years. i've had a double mastectomy and am on my fourth round of chemotherapy. you voted to let insurance

companies kick women like me out of the hospital on the same day we had our breasts removed, only you and one other congressman voted that way. >> and on a much lighter note, here's a place that should be square low in mitt romney's corner, romney, indiana. all the signs in the town seem to have his names on them from romney hardware to romney post office. but the town, population 786, we could not find or a reporter couldn't find a single romney yard sign. and if you read only one thing this morning, great story in the "huffington post" about an arizona high school's most popular student rallying behind a student with special needs who was getting bullied. it's up on our facebook page at facebook/jansingco. it will definitely put a smile on your face. baked in a ketchupe with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. let's fix dinner.

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with just six days to go, both campaigns are showing their last-minute strategy. the romney campaign trying to expand the election map,

targeting three reliably democratic states, michigan, minnesota, pennsylvania. and while both sides are now running ads in these states, senior obama campaign adviser david axelrod said the romney strategy amounts to a hail mary pass from a campaign running out of routes to 2 sgle70. >> i will come on "morning joe" and shave off my mustache of 40 years if we lose any of those three straiates. >> let's bring in robert tram. that was pretty good, right? >> i'm not going to make that bet for my hair. let me put it that way. >> you're not going to shave your head? >> no. >> robert, is this a hail mary pass? in the swing state polls the president is winning or tied with mitt romney in florida, virginia, ohio. >> well, what it is, it's a head game. what the romney campaign is doing because they're flush with cash, they're spending money in these states to play a little bit of offense here so that the

obama campaign can kind of say oh, my goodness, they're spending money here, we have to shore up our base and we need to divert some of the resources from ohio, from perhaps florida and virginia -- >> but don't they both have enough money to be in 50 states? there's so much money. >> well, yes and know. we don't know that but i have a sneaking suspicion and chris can probably confirm this on the democratic side is that both sides are just assuming there may be a recount so they want to have enough money in the bank to make sure that they can have enough resources if in case there is a recount after the election. >> is that what's going on here, chris? >> i'm not sure it's that. this happens in campaigns at the end when you get closer and closer. each campaign is trying to find a place where they can kind of expand the map or fake out the other campaign to bleed the resources. >> let me play the other side. this is this morning's "detroit news." romney closes gap in michigan.

there are new polls in pennsylvania and minnesota that show that mitt romney is within striking distance and maybe even more telling, because you don't just follow the polls, you follow people and money, bill clinton was campaigning in minnesota yesterday. do you think that the obama campaign is worried about these states? >> i would say that i would get worried or i think maybe increase the level of concern about these potential battle grounds if you saw the principals going there. the most precious resource that a campaign is the candidate's time because that's finite with only six or so days left. if you send surrogates like bill clinton to minimnesota, you don really lose anything by doing that. it's kind of a plus plus. so i think it's a smart strategy. if i see more polls coming out of minnesota or michigan or pennsylvania showing this a close race and showing the president's numbers down to 48 or 47, then i'll get concerned. up until that happens, i'm not

going to be that concerned about those states. >> so if romney is concerned then we would see romney making a stop in those states? >> he's partially right but he's also spending money there. they're not going to spend money after bad. if the poll numbers are as close as you put up on the screen, chris, then if you have the resources, why not do it? to chris's point, why not have some secondary surrogates, whether it's paul ryan or mrs. romney or the romney boys go to those states and just stoke the fire a little bit. i remember back in 2004 we did this with vice president cheney. we sent him to hawaii and then california because there was a small conceivable chance that president bush could perhaps take hawaii and california. he obviously did not, but it was a head game towards the democrats. >> i remember that. i remember that because i was trying to get msnbc to send me to hawaii and they weren't buying it. i remember that very well. even though, chris, the obama campaign is dismissing the idea

romney is seriously competing in these states, should they have spent money earlier to shore up those voting blocks, to make sure it wasn't even close? that they can't make a real play? >> you know, listen, i think when you look at this battleground map, and this has been one of the most difficult races to get kind of a handle on because you have national polls, you know, most of them showing a small, narrow romney lead. you have battleground polls showing a small, narrow obama lead. it is a very different state to get a grasp on. all that being said when you look at the battleground map and focus on the key states that i think the obama campaign is focused on, with key firewalls in wisconsin, ohio, virginia, florida, those are the states that romney must win to win this election, in particular, ohio, virginia, florida. you stop him in any one of those three states, president obama stays president. so that's the strategy. you don't want to bleed yourself so much, even with the amount of money both campaigns have, that you actually make it easier for

the other side to make inroads. >> i'm out of time but i want to ask you each really, really quickly for your guy, on the democratic side, chris, where are we going to see the president going over the weekend, the last weekend of this campaign? >> that's obvious, ohio, ohio, ohio. >> ohio, ohio, ohio. how about you, robert? where is romney going? >> ohio and most likely he will end his campaign in new hampshire. new hampshire is still very much in play. and maybe hawaii. he might go to hawaii. i heard romney may go to hawaii. >> i'm going to give a shoutout to my bosses. hawaii for the weekend. chris, robert, give me a heads up if you hear anything about that. >> we'll pack our board shorts. turning back to sandy, pope benedict xvi says he has been praying for those who have lost their lives and property because of the hurricane. these are the pictures from la guardia airport this morning. heavy flooding remains on the tarmac. new pictures of widespread damage have been pouring in today. natalie morales has the very

latest in a tour of the new jersey coastline from the air. >> reporter: good day to you, chris, as we are now overlooking some of the damage. and this is just a small glimpse of the hundreds of miles of damage along the jersey shoreline. this, of course, is the seaside pier, famous for those rides. governor chris christie of new jersey took a tour of this area and many of the communities up and down the shoreline yesterday, and he called the devastation incalculable saying this is an area that is going to be feeling the brunt of sandy for a very long time. he tweeted that the jersey shore of his youth is gone. the rides he took his kids on this summer are now in the atlantic ocean. and that's in fact what we're seeing. of course it's devastating and it's very sad to see the pier in that situation, but when we zoom out and see just the homes and the structures, the lives that have been completely destroyed by this, you really get a sense

of just a small part of the damage, because this is just one community. but what we see here goes on for hundreds of miles along the eastern seaboard. many, many people will not be able to get to these areas for a long time because roads have been swept away. you see the sand encroaching all over the homes. there are no roads to be seen in a lot of these shots. but ironically if we pull out further and you see other areas, you do see roads and you see parts of the causeway. so what is very striking is, as you'll see with hurricane situations, it almost seems to just sort of pick pockets of where it will go and where it hits of the depending on the weather patterns and where the storm surge came in, that is where you're seeing most of the devastation here today. i'm natalie morales. chris, back to you. >> thank you so much. natalie, by the way, also lives in new jersey. but she says her house is okay.

we are happy to hear that at least with those pictures. unbelievable. and the coast guard searched through the night for the captain of the "hms bounty" that sank during the hurricane off the coast of north carolina. rescue teams are still hoping the captain might be found alive. the water temperature is about 77 degrees. and then look at this, two men were stopped from entering the u.s. from mexico when their suv got stuck on top of the border fence in arizona. the men were trying to use a makeshift ramp to drive over that wall. border patrol agents found the vehicle. the men inside ran back to mexico. it will be a parade of giants this afternoon in san francisco for the world series champions. the san francisco giants swept the detroit tigers in four games. the team's second title in three years. and think you have a great pumpkin this halloween night? a washington state man carved his pumpkin to be a portable version of the tetris video

game. he carved the grid, loaded it up with l.e.d. lights and you can actually play the game. the pumpkin's stem is the joy stick. tallying up the damage from superstorm sandy, cnbc's jackie deangeles is here with what's moving your money and even the initial numbers are staggering. >> reporter: that's exactly right. ihs global insight saying the superstorm could end up costing about $20 billion in property damage and $30 billion in lost business and those figures could be elevated when you account for flood damage as well. a lot of people don't have extra insurance for floods. meantime longer term the storm may not pack as much of a punch. some economists are saying slightly lower growth in the coming weeks will be offset by rebuilding and repair as we see a boom later on. keep in mind that some are going to be hurt more than others. for instance, restaurants. say you lost a few days of business, you probably aren't going to see a later benefit, chris. >> speaking of billions, george lucas is already in the, shall

we say, filthy rich category but now i guess you could say he's about to become obsceny rich. >> reporter: sci-fi in other words ev-- nerds everywhere are excited. lucas will become disney's second largest individual shareholder with a 2.2% stake. and the surprise in the deal, that disney is planning at least three more "star wars" films, the first set for release in 2015. so yes, you could say he's going to be an even more rich man than he already is. >> jackie, thanks, good to see you. are you in the halloween spirit? here's a list of the top five adult costumes this year from the national retail federation. number five, a zombie. four, a batman character. three, pirate, two, vampire. and the most popular costume tonight, a witch. i'm only in my 60's...

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in the states hardest hit by hurricane sandy, this morning new jersey emergency workers are battling fires and floodwaters. in bricktown, new jersey, the storm destroyed 14 homes just a day ago and this morning clusters of fires broke out which officials believe are fueled by natural gas. along the jersey shore, breath taking scenes of destruction from the air with some homes having literally floated away. shawn golden joins me on the phone just back from a helicopter tour of the area, sheriff, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> these pictures that we have been seeing from the air are absolutely devastating and i'm sure in person even more so. did you see some things that are going to affect your strategy about what the priority might be in terms of response? >> yeah. obviously we're still going door-to-door in some sections,

our urban search and rescue teams are going door-to-door making sure we have everybody out. we haven't had any reports of fatalities yet in monmouth county so that's a positive but we continue to go door to door. we were in union beach and kingsburg yesterday and i toured the ground myself yesterday and by air and then looked at the devastation, it's just unbelievable up in that area of the county. >> is it even possible in a situation like this, i mean obviously so chaotic and you said there are homes that are just simply missing after the storm, to know a real number, if people are missing? >> no. you know, we haven't -- as of my last briefing at 9:00, we don't have any missing persons report yet in the county. you know, we're kind of working on some accounts that were given to us in the heat of the storm, following up on those type of accounts that say, hey, these people floated out. but at the end of the day we

haven't proven any of those yet. as you said, there's damage to the property. i spoke to the mayor yesterday and there are hundreds of homes that are unaccounted for that are off the foundations and out in the bay. so seabright, 70, 80% of the town is unin habitable in terms of infrastructure. we're still sheltering. we do have people that are migrating out of the shelter, which is good. they're finding some family an friends members to hook up with. we keep encouraging that to make room for those that are truly homeless for those who have no place to return to. those are some of the things we're working on. still life safety, still sheltering, evacs. making sure people have a place and a meal. we're making plans for long-term

housing through fema. they are starting to restore some power. we had 90% of the power out in the county. they are restoring sections of that today, so we hope to continue that effort. >> well, that's great news. let me just ask you finally, natural reaction is if your in one of these areas, you want to get there and you want to be able to see where is my house. is my house even there. and we have seen some people going out there in canoes and kayaks. what's your message to folks who understandably want to see what's going on? >> i understand. i mean when you look at the destruction out there, being a resident of 44 years in the county, we've never seen anything like this. we're trying to help them. we have pictures of our officers out there just helping people trying to locate their homes or at least some of their belongings that they can take back with them to shelter up overnight. obviously when it gets dark, we discourage any of that. we had a mandatory curfew last

night. we'll continue with a mandatory curfew at least this evening at 7:00 p.m. and so essentially personnel only, public safety personnel only and we've had great cooperation with our residents. so we know some want to get back and take a look. we do have the area secured with hundreds of officers and national guard right now in those towns up there in the north region. we'll continue to do that. but we'll work with them obviously. we are compassionate to their needs here as they look at the devastation. >> monmouth county sheriff, shawn golden, to you and to all the folks who are doing this very incredible and difficult homework in your hometowns, thank you so much and good luck. >> appreciate it. thank you for getting the word out. >> today's tweet of the day is from total jersey move. times of crisis make ordinary men heroes. here's to all the first responders and good samaritans. you have made jersey proud. #jerseystrong. it's swanson flavor boost.

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thanks to sandy, on the roads, rails and in the air getting from here to there has been a nightmare. tom costello is live at reagan national with the latest on the flight cancellations. any improvement at all, tom? >> yeah, big-time improvement at least here in those airports outside of the new york city area we're seeing improvement. i just checked the flight status board at reagan national airport. i'm guessing 80% of the flights look like they're leaving today. those that aren't are generally headed to new york. look behind me, we've got delta planes on the ramp. we haven't had that the last few days. i've seen american, united, u.s. airways, jetblue, air tran, all the big players here at this particular airport are back and we are glad to see that. here is the rolling tally so far of how many cancellations we've had. 19,500 over the course of this storm. 7,000 flights cancelled tuesday. here's what we look at so far today. 2800 flights as of this moment

but that is likely to change. of course the biggest problem is new york city. we do have jfk as well as newark airport open, but they are operating on a very limited basis, largely only looking at cargo flights rand trying to get some flights in to reposition so they can start offering service. la guardia is a whole different issue. la guardia had significant flooding out of the river right up there onto the ramp and in fact right up to the jet bridge they had real flooding. they are still evaluating that airport. they have issues with lights out, electronics out, runway damage, all of that they're still taking a look at as well as the flooding issues. there is no estimate on when la guardia may get up and running so that could be some time. if you have a flight that you're hoping to get into or out of newark or jfk, i wouldn't be so sure that's going to happen today. they're just now getting their sea legs up on those two airports. but because the new york area is such a linchpin for the entire country, you know, when those airports go down, it affects the

entire country rather dramatically. so even though you've got washington and philly and baltimore and boston all up and running today, new york city remains a big problem. and so, chris, that's where we stand right now with the ripple effect now on day three still playing out across the country and really around the world. back to you. >> tom costello, thank you so much. that wraps up this hour of jansing and company. i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. hello, thomas. >> these new images just keep coming in and just when you think you've seen et al., we see new things that just blow your mind. we will continue to bring you those new images and the president is going to see face to face himself. president obama taking off in one hour to tour atlantic city with new jersey governor chris christie today. this is an odd couple politically, but now the men are working side by side to bring federal relief to millions affected along the eastern seaboard. meanwhile governor christie and atlantic city's mayor are going to come face to face during the president's tour. however, the governor and the mayor have been exchanging barbs

about the mayor ignoring the governor's evacuation order for people in atlantic city. mayor langford joins me with his side of the story. and mitt romney gets back on the campaign trail, first stop the battleground state of florida. a lot of new information coming up in the next hour. stick around. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership.

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this is where sophisticated styling begins. and where it ends? that's up to you. it's here -- the greatest malibu ever. ♪ good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. topping get agenda today, a daunting recovery. president obama will depart the white house in one hour heading to new jersey to tour the damage left in the wake of the destructive superstorm named sandy. you're looking at new aerial pictures taken from above new jersey today. the images coming in. look at these absolutely devastating, almost unbelievable. this is bricktown, where natural gas fires broke out this morning. now, the president will tour the jersey shore from ground and from above with governor chris christie. this just one day after ordering federal agencies to expedite any relief. >> i want you to cut through red tape, i want you to cut through